NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WKBW) — Richard Fox, the suspect in the Chautauqua Rails to Trails murders, is now a "person of interest" in the investigation into skeletal remains found in Niagara Falls, officials said Tuesday.
The remains were discovered on March 28 in a house located at 2419 Orleans Avenue.
Niagara Falls officials said the remains were found "boarded up under the basement stairs."
Investigators have not determined the identity of the victim or the cause of death "because of the condition of the remains," the statement said.
Niagara Falls police asked anyone with information about Fox or his acquaintances to call the Niagara Falls Police Department at 716-286-4553 or 716-286-4711.
WATCH: Who is Richard Fox?
According to a report in National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, a national database of missing, unidentified and unclaimed persons, the victim is believed to be a white woman between the ages of 24 and 44 who was about 4 foot 11 to 5 foot 3 inches tall.
"Nearly complete skeletonized remains were recovered wrapped in plastic and a tarp inside a walled-in space underneath the staircase in the basement of a house," the report said.
Fox has been in custody since January, when he was arrested on Portage Road in Niagara Falls. He was initially charged in the murder of Marquita Mull, who was 50 when she was last seen in the Broadway-Fillmore area of Buffalo. He was later also charged in the murder of Cassandra Watson, who was about 40, when her family last saw her in about 2003 or 2004. She was also from Buffalo.
Their remains were found yards apart off a Chautauqua Rails to Trails in the Town of Portland in September 2021. The trail is located less than half a mile from where Fox grew up on Wolebon Road.
Kait Munro, a spokeswoman for the Erie County District Attorney's Office said: “At this time, Richard Fox remains charged with two counts of Murder in the Second Degree for allegedly killing two victims whose remains were found in Chautauqua County. We continue to encourage anyone who may have information about Richard Fox, the homicides of Marquita Mull and Cassandra Watson, or any additional crimes to contact our office, Buffalo Police Department or the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office.”
